Search engine advertising is one of the most popular ways to market your local business online. But creating an effective search advertising campaign can take a lot of time and expertise, from setting up your keywords, text ads, and budget to regularly monitoring your advertising performance and making sense of your results. We want to know: which of these aspects of search advertising is the most challenging for local business owners? Vote now in our poll, and let us know your

Last month, we asked our readers if having a mobile website was a priority to their local business. A whopping 91% of respondents said “Yes!” while only 9% said that a mobile website was not a priority for their business. See the breakdown of results in our infographic below. What Respondents Said We also asked poll respondents why having a mobile site was important to them. Here is what some business owners had to say about having a mobile website today. “Responsive, mobile

When a prospect leaves your website, that doesn’t mean it’s over between your business and that site visitor. There’s actually something you can do to get their attention again and bring them back to your website. It’s called website retargeting, and it’s a method used by businesses of all sizes to recapture interested website visitors. In fact, you’ve probably seen retargeting ads from some of your favorite brands today as you were spending time online. And that same technology can work for your local business, too. How Website Retargeting

Consumers today spend more than 3 hours per day on smartphones and over 85% of them consider their mobile devices to be a central part of everyday life. Smartphones provide consumers with constant access to the Internet, resulting in a shift in the way they search for and discover local businesses. This shift has even prompted Google to update its algorithm to emphasize mobile-friendly websites in mobile searches in what was dubbed “Mobilegeddon.” In our latest webinar coming up on

I recently attended the 3rd annual Google International Franchise Assembly (GIFA) at Google’s Mountain View California campus on May 7 & 8, 2015. I was offered the chance to co-facilitate the SEO breakout sessions and speak to franchise marketing leaders about SEO best practices for franchises, along with my co-facilitators Andrew Beckman of Location3 and Michael Bunn of Scorpion Design. Franchise marketers face unique challenges in trying to drive brand consistency and user experience across a large number of local franchisees.

Local business needs to attract local consumers. It sounds like a simple goal, but reaching the right consumers at the right time can have many challenges, especially as consumer buying behavior shifts toward micro-moments. In fact, Google has stated that searches for nearby businesses are up 34x since 2011 and they have doubled in the last year. What does this mean for local business? You need to be able to reach consumers where they are spending their time –on mobile

Today, it seems like everyone is talking about mobile websites. Recent changes to Google’s mobile search engine algorithm essentially mean that sites that aren’t mobile-friendly could see lower performance in their search results. And, studies show that over 50% of searches now come from mobile devices. In order to get found and engage consumers on mobile, there’s no question that having a mobile website is hugely important to your business and to your marketing. But in your opinion, just how big of a

Last month, we asked readers for the top way they look for local business information on their smartphones. With 69% of responses, mobile browsers are still the most common path to finding local businesses information, according to our readers. In addition, 23% of respondents say they use maps like Google Maps, and 8% say they rely on local directory apps like Yelp to find local business information on their mobile phones. See the responses in our infographic, and let us know which method you prefer

Last month, search engine giant Google made a huge splash in the online marketing world by releasing a mobile algorithm update. This update, dubbed “Mobilegeddon,” emphasized that websites would need to be mobile-friendly in order to perform well in mobile search. In the weeks that followed Google’s mobile search update, there have been mixed reports about the impacts of this algorithm on mobile website traffic. Some have stated that the full results of the update may not yet full be

How smart is your website? Does it collect and store information about each of your leads – even if they call you? Does it help you close more sales by reminding you and your staff to follow up with qualified leads? Can it send automated marketing emails that keep you top of mind with interested prospects? And most importantly, does it tell you which of your marketing sources gets you the most customers? What if your website could do all